Apparatus for feeding articles from a container



June l2, 1.945. 2,378,032

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING ARTICLES FROM CONTAINERS F. BARRY Filed Feb. 25, 1942 2 ShetS-Sheet, 1

cooooo i June 12, 1945.- F PARRY 2,378,032

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING ARTICLES FROM CONTAINERS Filed Feb. 25, 1942 2 shee'S-shee't 2 Patented June 12,l 1945 Pilendi nog.. $2,357.

` in, Giesemann Fee/ruaryrsgroxjr L'lhis.. invention concerns. improvements' relate u ing tof apparatus...forY .feeding .from .a- .cor'it'ailtlenA .cartridges. .which 4have a larger crosssectional area.at one end .than-at .the otherandwhich l 1a(\;e .a l main .body portion .adjacent theA larger en t Y l According. to .the invention there isproyided apparatus for feedingcartridges of the kind described., comprising areceptacle having an out? let and; @downwardly.directedbottom andL an end Wall whichl converge .towards vthe outlet, the cartridges beingarranged to. inove sideways towards and. .through..the outlet, and means. at .the bottom, o fthe-lcontainer to'impart. arotational movement tothe-.cartridges as` they move.towardstheoutlet.

The `means .to impart( a rotational, movement to the.. cartridges may .comprise .an endlessband. havinggits upper. run passing. along thebottomof the receptable, ,..the. band. being ofl such al .width .as .to engageenly` a por-tion.. of '.thelength of .cartridges lyigilerecn t, f Y. .linther according tol vthe invention .there .is provided apparatns. for feeding cartridges.. cornpri sing-a;receptae 1e, y a. stationarybottom andan end Wall,}an.-.out1et.- formed! between the .end wall and the-stationary bottom,I which latter .slopes d owiivvardly `te .the outlet, a. .conveyor-surface arrangedto ."move over saidg.stationary. .bottom .towards they out1et, the conveyorfsurface. .beingso located inthe :container .as .to engage the body Portions of. cartridges so.- that theirlongitudinal axes are transversegto .the direction-1 oimovement of; f-.tghef conveyor-surface and soythat gtheir large endsaare clear of -the :statiomarybottom of: the container. drag-member 1'na-y l .be Adisposed wlthin .the '.containerand -arrangeditofengage Y.the .noseio a1, cartridge. which. isf eng-agedby the conf Meyer-surface; or endless band,. the vengagement ofethegi cartridge :by the drag-member beingv at. a `positions .whchfis near. the: smaller. end of the .cartridge;.zfor thefpurposel of: reducing hthe tende encys gtsuch. a1 cartridgeitozpoint its: smaller ,end vinfthez:iirectionifo ymovement of` the conveyor .surfaces Ai .positively driven transfer-device, le. g aatrans'fer-device -whichfisf whollyv located Ioutsidethe .container may beadaptedr to 4receive cartridgeszfromeas-,conveyorqsurfaceiand move the cartdeeslaway from the: ,container and teapvplyrfan'impedance;to .thencartridges at the-out let'. Tnetconveyor@surfacemay.` comprise amend.-- l'ess band,'.the: upper/nun'. of whichf isa-interrupted by .passing the .bandi around anelement'jthe latter .bei'xigi so disposed .as Lto.:,div-idetheaupper;` run= into two parts toiiform anriobtuse angle; one not. said "'rtsrieompnsing... :the transferarmee.' y ennuie "1f cia-ms. (orgies/Q54 providedttofres'train.ithe conveyor'- l surface against2 aberrance..due tothewei'g'ht of cartridges;restinggthereon.. Theeui,,defrnfnsalley-e prise .ilangedpulleysand the band, in suchy cases, is.,.pas sed ...between .thejanges of. sai'd pulleys 't'o restrainthejband againstA .aberrance due to .the Weight of the cartri'dges,restingltlireon.4 O ne embodiment ofithe. vinvention will .be described.` by Way of .example .with reference to the accompanying@ drawings whichT .show apparatus fortteedingcantridgesandin which: Figure. LisLaroift; levation ofi the apparatus.

I'Figure v ..iaefmng toene drawings, the .apparatus 11s p ri- '-designe'd for'cartridges 2; Figure 2;, lof al fairly., large 'c1al lo're,` e. g1. cartridges"y containing a half inch bullet, .but the. apparatus .can .also be designed; to.l,b e` employed; either with smaller. or 1er-eer Catilidgsitfdei'red..

-31 .comprises-three partavizf-azvertical part 31A,

@partl .3-,'|.C. The convergence of` thefbottom Wall andttheendlwall help'sto ensure.. that" the. articles .at the, outlet. are.; properly '.trued up since they .wnigbe engaged-bw autiel'es.v engaging. the, bottom -Sflljdaendwallswrespectivly. .The/bottom Wallll oflgli-eontainer passesbeneath the'lower end' of tzhetfefndy wallflpso .thatganfoutiet lI'l-Tis provided beneath the end. wall` and .t-he`..bottom of the container through; which outlet .cartridges can pass fromffthey container: Z4-. VA n. .endless band' 2 5is arranged; to .overgguidefplleys IIB', H9,A 'l 2'0, l2 l', 1.2 2,` |12 L; :some of', .the :pulleys .t being. flanged for a pur-pose described later. `The band passes .between the flanges/of. the,..pul1eys.and apart ['24 4(ligure fl) ...of the` upper of', the lband' com- '.prises fa: conveyorgsufaefwhich. moves over 'the bottomwall l.Uli ofthe..V container... vvAff-the lower end o'i` thefbottom. wall .offthecontainerand ad'- jacent-,1 thereto there l isprovidedl the small'. 'guide- Bul- 18Min overfwhichYthel bandpasses downward'- ly-.aroundfthe-.largerpulley I 22. FromLthispuHey thegband lpasses Aupwardly and. over' the further .small .pulley 1:2 I., a fterv which. the upper run 'of thai-band. continues.v in an, .upwardly inclined. .direetionfandcomprises .aptransferdevice |25 :a5 fdtimireslf)-Fwhiclipisqiadapteditomceive cartridges referred' to may comof this drum is indicated in chain lines in Figure 1 and marked with the reference 4. Afterthe cartridges have been deliveredl to the desired position the band passes round the pulleys |I9` and |23 and returns to the upper end of the- .bottom of the container. The tension of the band may be controlled by'means of adjustable' jockey-pulleys in any desired manner, but as shown in Figure 1, the pulley |23 is adjustable in guides 221 by screws |28 for this purpose. The two small pulleys and |2| are arranged to be as close together as possible and a' line joining their centres is substantially' horizonal. By this arrangement of the two small pulleys |20 and |2 I, and the larger one |22 which is located' beneath them, the upper -run of the band is interrupted without any substantial interference being encountered while cartridges are passing from the conveyorsurface |24 to that part |25 of the band which constitutes the transfer-device. In order that each part vof the upper run 'ofthe conveyor shall operate satisfactorily to drive the cartridges forwardly, the band is driven from two positions. The pulley |18 over which the downwardly' directed part of the upper'run of the band passes when entering the container; is positively driven and the pulley ||9 at the delivery end ofthe upwardly directedpart of the upper run, that is the part |25 of the band which constitutes the transfer-devicais also positively driven. Since the band is one continuousband, the peripheral speed at which these two pulleys are driven is the same.

As previously mentioned the apparatus shown forms part of the machine described in the speciiication referred to and parts of the driving arrangements of said machine arev illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings to show how the band 25 may be driven. Referring to Figure 2, a shaft 66 journalled in the frames of the apparatus has a sprocket wheel 65 thereon which may be driven by a motor or alternatively the shaft-may be driven by the hand wheel l||l9 all as described in said specification. A small gear wheel 69 on the shaft drives a large gear wheel 1 0 on a shaft 1| also journalled in the frames. vA large sprocket wheel 'l2 is xed to this shaft and a chain 1.3 on said wheel passes around other sprocket wheels 'I4 and 15. The sprocket wheel 14 is fixed to a shaft |21 which is journalled inthe frames and has the pulley I8 xed thereto while the sprocket wheel 15 is xed to a shaft vllrotatable in the frames and carrying the pulley I9. I

Above the transfer-part of the upper run of the band there is provided a guide, or-a plurality of guides 228,vv beneath which the cartridges pass, the guide being provided to ensure that the cartridgesv are retainedV in position on the band.v

The band, as it movesthrough the container, is so arranged within the container that-it engages only a portion ofthe length of they body portions 2B, Figure 2, of the cartridges so that they lie transversely to the direction of movement of the `conveyor-surface and so that their-larger ends are clear of the stationary bottom of the container. Thus as the band 25 is offset with respect to the mid-length of the cartridge, a

force is applied to the cartridges by the driving action of the band and this force, by causing the cartridges to rotate, tends to prevent the cartridges from tending to point downwardly into the container owing to their weight with their smaller ends pointing in the general direction of move- \ment of the band. At the opposite side of the with their longitudinal axes transverse to the direction of movement of the conveyor-surface (i. e. as shown by the single cartridge illustrated in Figure 2) and with the larger ends clear of the stationary bottom of the container. The downward movement of the 'conveyor-surface tends to rotate the cartridges. By this means, the lower cartridges are fed one at a time through the outlet on to the transfer-device |25. It will be appreciated that since cartridges are heavy, the weight of a mass of cartridges in a hopper would cause a block at the exit of the hopper if the bottom were horizontal. The sloping bottom ensures that the cartridges by their weight exert pressure along the bottom towards the outlet. Due to the presence of gaps between cartridges at their noses, there is a tendency due to the weight of a mass of such cartridges in a hopper, forsome cartridges to slew nose down into these gaps when the cartridges are in motion, as when being fed from a hopper. To prevent this the endless band which runs along the sloping bottom of the hopper in the construction described, provides a driving action which rotates the cartridges in an anticlockwise direction as viewed in Figure 1, and this rotation reduces the tendency of this slewing of some of the cartridges. The fixed plateor drag member which engages the noses of the cartridges also provides an additional element which co-operates to prevent the nose of the cartridges from pointing towards the outlet.

As has already been described,'the endless band 25 is made narrow within reasonable practical limits. By having a narrow band the diierences in the diameters of a cartridge at the edges of the band are less than if the band were wide: thereifore a narrow band causes less tendency -for the cartridges to slew round due to the driving action of the band. It will be seen, therefore that since the invention is concerned with dealing with a tapering, heavy article, namely a cartridga, the rotation of the cartridges plus the fact that they are rotated by a narrow band, are two features which jointly contribute to preventv slewing. .In addition, by reason of the fact that the cartridges lie on a sloping bottom in the hopper, the'row n ofcartridges at the bottom of the hopper is taken away while the cartridges are being continually rotated, and this keeps other cartridges in the hopper in la substantial state of rotation about their individual axes at all times, so tending -to prevent the cartridges goingdown nose iii-st and thereby causing a complete stoppingup. The transfer-device'moves the cartridges upwardly and delivers them to the desired' position. Due

to the fact that the band is offset with respect to the mid-length of the cartridges, there is a tendency for the band to wander laterally due to the Weight of the cartridges in the container, but as the band moves between the flanges provided on the guide-pulleys around which the band passes, this tendency is greatly minimized. The position of the smaller pulleys 120 and 12| around which the band passes adjacent the outlet of the hopper is vsuch that the transfer-device is wholly voutside the container, and the portion |25 of the conveyor-surface outside the hopper continues to feed the articles to a position which is outside the container.

It is found that due to the convergence of the bottom and end walls, and the movement and arrangement of theband 25, the cartridges with their larger ends clear ofthe vbottom wall Il B, travel to the outlet along the bottom of the conveyor while rotating in the opposite direction to that of the rollers H8 and |20. In this way the cartridges are maintained trued up and cartridges are taken away from the mass along they bottom of the receptacle, and as cartridges are so taken away, others move to the rear of the stream moving along the bottom towards' th outlet.

An important feature of the invention is. the fact that the cartridges after leaving the voutlet of the hopper are caused to move upwardly on what has been called the transfer device. This transfer device is a practical way of carrying Out' the basic idea of applying av force opposing that which moves the cartridges from the hopper. If there were no such opposing .force there would be nothing to ensure thatthe cartridges leaving the hopper are under proper control and they would tend torush out. The transfer device provides the required resistance to ensure that the cartridges leaving the. hopper arefunder proper control. This resistance is caused by the weight of the cartridges on the upwardly sloping surface of the transfer device in the example being described, and the cartridges are caused to move up the inclined surface, by the force from'V those being fed on the downward surface of the hopper. In other words the opposed force of the transfer device helps to ensure that the cartridges'move out slowly from the hopper outlet and thus enable vthe band in the hopper to eifect the rotational movement of the cartridges in the reverse direction to that which they would have if they merely rolled down the sloping bottom. If the opposing force were not provided the cartridgeswould rst start to rush out of the outlet uncontrolled and with gaps between them, which would very quickly result in some cartridges slewing round and so obstructing the free passage from the outlet and causing a jam. e

What I claim as'my invention anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is;

1. Apparatus for feeding cartridges, comprisingl a receptacle having an outlet and a downwardly directed bottom and an end wall which converge towards the outlet, the cartridges being arranged to move'sideways towards and through the out- 2. Apparatus for feeding` cartridges, comprising a. receptacle, a stationary bottom and an end wall, an outlet formed betweenI the end wall and the stationary bottom, which latter slopes downwardly to ythe outlet, a conveyor-surface arranged to move over said stationary bottom towards the outlet, the conveyor-surface being so located in the container as to engage the body portions of cartridgesgso that their longitudinal axesv are transverse to the direction of movement of the conveyor-surface and so that their large ends are clear of the stationary bottom ofthe receptacle and arranged to impart a rotational movement to the articles as they move towards the outlet.

3. Apparatus foi` feeding cartridges, comprising.

a receptacle having an outlet and a downwardly directed bottom and an end wall which converge towards the outlet, the cartridges being arranged to move sideways towards and through the outlet,

andrmeans at the bottom of the container to impart a rotational movement to the cartridges'as they move towards the outlet, said last named `means comprising an endless band having lits upper run passing along the bottom of the receptacle, the band being of such a width as to engage only a portion of the length of cartridges lying thereon.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim3, wherein-a l drag member is disposed within the receptacle and arranged to engage avcartridge which is engaged by the conveyor-surface of the endless band, the engagement of the cartridge by the dragmember being at a position which is'near the smaller end of the article. e

5. `Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein positively driven transfer-device is adaptedl to receive cartridges delivered 'from said outlet and move the cartridges away from the receptacle and to apply an impedance to -the cartridges at the outlet.

6. Apparatus for feeding cartridges, comprising a receptaclehaving an outlet and a downwardly directed bottom and an end wall which converge towards the outlet, the cartridge being arranged to move sideways towards and through the outlet, 'and means at the bottom ofthe 'container to impart a rotational movement to the cartridges as they move towards the outlet, said last named means comprising an endless band conveyor, the continuity of the upper run of said conveyor being interrupted so as to divide the same into two parts forming an obtuseangle, one of said parts f lying within said receptacle and the other of said parts lying Wholly outside of said receptacle and comprising a transfer device receiving cartridges from said receptacle and impeding the discharge of cartridges from said outlet. p

'7. Apparatus for feeding cartridges, comprising a receptacle having an outlet anda downwardly.k

directed bottom. and an -end wall which converge towards the outlet, they cartridges being arranged to move sidewaysk from the outlet, means at theV e bottom of .the` container to impart a rotational let, and means at the bottom of the container to impart a rotational movement to the cartridges as they move towards the outlet, the last said -means comprising a rotating element arranged to engage only a portion of each cartridge lying thereon. 

